Challenges & Rainy Days

You know, I always say that I'm a winter baby, that I love winter...

But there is definitely a downside.

The day is too short, darkness comes too soon...

Anywho!

I can't believe its already Day 5 of my diet! I'm not saying it in a bad way, I'm surprised at how fast the days went by altogether actually! And guess what? I can proudly say, that today, I had no out-of-place hunger pangs at all! None in the whole day! And let me tell ya, just like yesterday, today's dietary requirements were going to be challenging for me! Let me explain in the usual way...

Day 5 of the diet calls for:
"Today is feast day. You will eat beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef. Hamburger is OK. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five you must increase your water intake by one quart. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing."

*Note: Now, before I tell you guys what I ate, I have to make a few things known. Being of the religion I am, I do not eat beef. However, the GM diet is flexible in that sense; chicken can be used as a substitute. There are also completely vegetarian options available. Beef has to be eaten as a source of protein, therefore for a vegetarian option, sprouts can be used.

Secondly, I really, really, really dislike tomatoes. But, I still sucked it up, and ate them by turning them into a soup. Let it be known that the tomatoes do not have to be consumed raw and/or uncooked. As long as you do not add lots of extra, unhealthy ingredients, you should be OK.

What I ate:
Food intake: Steamed sprouts with tomatoes, lemon & some garlic, tomato soup & chicken, pepper & onion skewers/kebabs.
Water intake: I'm at about 3.5 litres just now, I plan on consuming about 1-1.5 litres more.
I had no other beverages today.

*Shameful note: So remember how I said I really didn't like tomatoes? Well, the soup my mom made was absolutely delicious, but a bag of garlic & butter croutons caught my attention and I ended up adding a few of those to my soup. I will add an extra 15 minutes to the treadmill tomorrow morning for that, promise!

The Workout:
*Another *hangs head* kind of note: Today ended up being my second day off from the week where I didn't get a chance to hop on the treadmill. I ended up doing some work around the house and had to get done some studying. However, I will make up for it with an extra 10 minutes on the treadmill tomorrow.

Weight Change from Day 4: no change
Weight Change from Day 1: -6.5 pounds

How I felt:
Because I spent most of the day sitting and relaxing, today was OK. I wasn't tired or anything; maybe it was the extra work I did outside yesterday and the weather today that had me feeling sleepy. Also, there were no cravings for any other food outside the diet. I'm surprised that I am already 5 days into the diet, and that there are only 2 more days left!

Apart from that, my body actually feels a bit lighter today, to be honest. Getting on the scale, I saw that I was a few grams less than yesterday, but it wasn't a huge difference. Now, the diet says, there should be a noticeable difference in the way you look by Day 6, which is tomorrow, so let's see if that really is the case. I wish I'd measured my waist or my thighs to be able to compare, but I'll just try on an old pair of jeans that has been giving me a little trouble lately, they shall speak for me.

I'm almost a 100% sure that I will be doing this diet again, because I've seen it to be highly effective. It seems to work for me, and its not terribly difficult to adapt to. I just have to wait for a few religious days to pass in which we have been invited to people's houses for meals,and I'm not one to turn down that kinda food =P. Even through that though, I will be consistently exercising, and of course, eating in moderation. I do not wish to jump right back in to my old eating habits, otherwise all my efforts now will be wasted. Now, we did eat all new things today, so here are the recipes for y'all.

Recipes:

• For the Tomato Soup: First we boiled 10 large tomatoes, 2 onions, 4 big garlic cloves, about an inch of ginger and 5-6 cloves. Then instead of mashing them, we turned them into a thick paste by putting it all in the blender. Then we drained it all in case of any excess peels & such were left in the thick gravy, added about half a litre of water and brought it to a boil. We were able to consume 4 big bowls between the two of us.
• For the Sprouts: The beans I used were mung (green gram), moth beans and lentil beans. They were wrapped in a cloth over 2 nights so they could grow sprouts. First I steamed them, then added a mixture of green chillies & coriander along with a 2-3 cloves of garlic. A tomato was also diced and added to the salad. You may chop and add a small onion too.
• For the Skewers: I used the same recipe as mentioned before. Only the timer was a few extra minutes so that the chicken would cook and become crispy on the outside, but tender on the inside. Keep in mind, the olive oil used for this "marination" should be used in moderation.

This was it for Day 5! I thought the food was actually slightly heavier than compared to other days, but like I mentioned before, I'll just exercise it off. Also, I know I needn't worry too much because it was all healthy.

I definitely recommend this diet to anyone who is looking to lose weight in a healthy, natural way.

As always, if y'all have any questions, comments, concerns, etc. feel free to leave me a message below, and share this blog with your friends to spread a little health! ;-)

I'll be back tomorrow with more updates.

Stay out of the rain y'all!

Hasta la-buh bye!

Bananas & Bonkers

*giggles*

Tell me that title didn't make you laugh a little, heh...

Anywho! How's it going, y'all!?

I'm back with another entry for today :-)

My mom is taking me out this evening for some fun, so I'm going to try to make this entry a little short & to-the-point. Let's see how I manage that :-P

Now, today was Day 4 of the diet, and according to "them", today should have gone by easier than we would think. However, that wasn't exactly the case for me...

I shall explain, but let me follow the usual procedure.

Day 4 of the diet calls for:
"Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special soup which may be eaten in limited quantities."

What I ate:
Food intake: 3 bananas so far, and I plan to eat 1 or maybe 2 more, 2 bowls of the G.M.'S Wonder Soup, the recipe for which I've posted previously, and two glasses of milk with 1 tbsp of sugar in them.
Water intake: I'm at 3.5 litres so far, and hopefully I'll gulp down another litre.
I had no other beverages today.

Food for the day!

The Workout:

• 15 minutes on the stationary bike
• 2 hours of outdoor activity (leaf-raking, walking around, etc.)

Weight Change from Day 3: -3.1 pounds

Weight Change from Day 1: -6.5 pounds

*I was so incredibly happy when I got on the scale this morning. Let it be known that I am not inflating any of these values; I get on the scale every morning, so all the measurements have been done at the same time.

How I felt:

Now, like I mentioned before, although the diet claimed that you will be surprised how easy this day goes, it wasn't exactly easy for me. However, I do not think at all that it was because of the diet. If you all remember, I mentioned on the first day that I do not have a sweet tooth, and the dietary requirements for today were all sweet! That is why today was hard. I wasn't craving junk food, I was only craving something spicy; I was actually craving the skewers we made last night, in the spirit of honesty! However, due to the fact that we were allowed a bit of the Wonder Soup, I survived the day.

But the food apart, body-wise I am as energetic as ever. I don't feel tired, nor have I had any headaches or muscle pains (which are some of the predicted side effects of the diet). I was able to do a lot of yard work today, and only stopped when I ran out of energy. But I still managed to get 2 whole hours in, which would not have been possible a couple of weeks ago, I guarantee you that.

What I realize this diet is doing is definitely increasing my awareness about healthy food. I'm not looking forward to this diet ending, because I'm actually enjoying the menu, the eating styles and habits. Believe me, getting out of a healthy lifestyle is very simple, its the consistency that is hard to maintain for the first few days. I feel like if I do 2 or 3 more repetitions of this diet, I will automatically start eating healthier in my every day life. Just today I had a thought - after this diet ends, I should have a "fruit day" or a "only veggies day" in my week every once in a while. I'm impressed with this diet only because its making me lose weight in a totally natural way.

For today, there aren't any new recipes to post, just the soup we had in the afternoon, but the recipe for that has been posted under the post called "Testing my consistency...".

Anyway! 

This is it for today's entry. I know its a little shorter than the last few entries, but along with being excited to go out, I'm in a bit of a rush. Tomorrow is a different day in the diet, and I will let you guys know why then as well!

If you guys have any questions, comments, experiences to share, please comment below and/or share this post with your friends! I will appreciate any motivation, inspiration & positive thoughts :-)

Until tomorrow, oh Friday-night-lovers...

Hasta la-buh bye!

Busy Days & Surprises

Yeah, I missed my old title style, I couldn't help but fall right back into it... ;-)

Aaanyway!

How are y'all this evening?

Its been a long, tiring & surprisingly cold day today!

I'm back once again with some more fun stuff about the diet I'm following. Apart from it being super fun, easy to follow, and not difficult to prepare for, it really is giving me results so far, and I'm loving it!

Before I get into mundane chit chat, let me get the health talk updated and out of the way for those who are reading & following my journey.

We are now 3 days into the diet! So, how was today, you ask? Well...

Day 3 of the diet calls for:
"A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today."

What I ate:
Food intake: Lots of red grapes, a bowl of leftover veggies from yesterday, & some awesome veggie skewers mommy dearest and I made at home.
Water intake: Close to 3 litres (I know, I'm not doing well on the water front *hangs head*)
I had no other beverages today.

Picture note: I'm too tired to actually post a picture, I'll do that tomorrow, I promise.

The Workout:

• 60 minutes of outdoor activity (leaf-raking, walking around, etc.)
• *Note: Along with this diet, I have decided to work out 5/7 days of the week. I chose today to be one of my days off. As my stamina increases, I'm hoping to get to at least an hour 7/7 days, but until then, I'm taking it slow and building up my metabolism.

Weight Change from Day 2: +0.5 pounds

Weight Change from Day 1: -2.6 pounds

*Another note: I was actually expecting this increase in weight because I felt like I was consuming slightly heavier food than just water-based fruits. However, by working out tomorrow, I hope to work the half pound I got back as well!

How I felt:

By now, I feel like I'm definitely into this diet; I'm actually looking forward to following it. The cravings for other, off-diet food were almost non-existent today. Only one longing moment when a friend was eating a cream cheese bagel right in front of me *sigh* But apart from that, today was super easy!

What surprised me was the fact that I actually wasn't as hungry as I usually am! I ate grapes in the morning as a "breakfast snack", and was only able to have a (very) late lunch, but I wasn't starving to death like I would have been on any other day.

My energy level was fairly high throughout the day, and I was active & moving around quite a bit. Yesterday, I had a moment of extreme fatigue, but none of that came up today. When I woke up in the morning, I was well rested. Another point I wanted to mention was apart from feeling a little tired on Day 2, I have not yet experienced any "negative" side effects of this diet *knock on wood* No headaches, no muscle ache, nothing of the sort.

My mom is also following this diet with me (which is such a great support, by the way, it really helps someone else in the household following the diet with you), and we came up with a really cool recipe today because we wanted something tangy, spicy and different. So, here they are!

Recipes:

• Skewers & veggies: We chopped up large pieces of peppers (green, red & yellow), cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. We seasoned it with some lemon juice, chilli powder, vegetable seasoning, cumin & coriander powder and a little bit of salt. Although we used the same seasoning for all veggies, the cauliflower & broccoli we stir-fried extremely lightly on a few drops of olive oil. As for the rest of the peppers and carrots, after making sure all the veggies were well "marinated", we put them in the toaster over to broil for 15 minutes or so, and ding! They were ready and delicious :-)

So this is it for Day 3. See! Isn't it surprising how little I ate and still felt great?!

Of course, feel free to comment, advise, inspire or share anything below! I'd be more than happy to hear from y'all :-)

Aaanyway!

I'm calling it a night for now, but tomorrow, I promise to be back with yet another post, and pictures of food! Until then, oh sleepy heads!

Hasta la-buh bye!

Testing my consistency...

So here I am! As promised! Back on Day 2 =)

I'm thinking that I should set up a "template" so to speak, to track my food, exercise & recipes used for the day, along with any changes in the weight.

Why don't I start with the good news?

I'm down 3.3 pounds!

But I should start from the beginning, just like yesterday's post, no? Here is my journey of the next 24 hours..

Day 2 of the diet calls for:
"All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter."

What I ate:
Food intake: A baked potato, lots of veggies, G.M.'S Wonder Soup
Water intake: Approximately 4 litres (4 large glasses + 3 0.5 bottles)
Other beverages: 1 large cup of Lipton Green Tea

I promised that I would post my actual
food pictures, and here they are!

The Workout:

• 20 minutes (approximately 1.11 kms) on the treadmill
• 10 minutes on the stationary bike
• Lots of walking around at school (I was there from 3PM - 9PM!)

Weight Change from Day 1: -3.3 pounds

How I felt:

The second day started off wonderfully as well. Now, let it be known, that I enjoy eating potatoes in any form, so...in the spirit of honesty, I was looking forward to the breakfast part of my day, almost all night! Since I was going to be in school all evening, I decided that I would work out in the morning before leaving home - I wanted to make sure I got in my exercise for the day. I took about an hour long of a break after I had my potato, and then hopped on the treadmill. 

In terms of my body, I was feeling pretty energized. Looking at the scale in the morning really motivated me, and I honestly didn't feel too tired! The craving for "junk food" was definitely less than yesterday, however, seeing people eat sandwiches from Tim Horton's and Subway, chips from Ruffles & Lays, etc. made me give it all a momentary hungry stare. *shuffles feet in embarrassment*

I had 2 bowls of the Wonder Soup just now when I came back from school because I was feeling very hungry, and I must say, it was quite delish! So now I've gotten myself a full, happy tummy, and I will be off to bed soon. Tomorrow is a combination of fruits & veggies, so that should be fairly easy to get through. Of course I will be back with more commentary on my part, and hopefully some more changes on the scale.

Now, as promised yesterday, I have the recipes of everything I ate today listed below. These recipes are quite flexible, so you can change them a bit to your liking, however try not to use too many additional fatty, calorie-adding items.

Recipes:

• Potatoes: I baked the potato last night by rubbing a few drops of olive oil on it, and half a pinch of salt for about 85-90 minutes. This morning, I diced up the potato, put on it a tiny amount of butter, and put a bit of seasoned herbs on top. No extra salt was added.
• Veggies: I used green, red & yellow peppers, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, head cabbage and some carrots. I chopped all these veggies up last night, and kept them covered and in a nice cool place. You needn't actually put them back in the fridge. In the morning, I put these veggies in a big non-stick pan. All I used was a small spoon of olive oil, a little herb seasoning, some red chilli powder, a tiny tsp. of an Indian spice, and half a tsp. of salt.
• G.M.'S Wonder Soup: I used broccoli, cauliflower, frozen corn, carrots & peas (the ones we get in a bag), and some head cabbage. Although the GM Diet says you should use the Lipton Onion Soup Mix, I bought Knorr's Vegetable Soup Mix instead. I put the veggies to boil in water first, and as they were cooking, I put in the soup mix. It is extremely easy to make, chopping veggies is probably the most time consuming part of it. You can use mushrooms, spring onions, peppers, anything other veggies that you would drink in a soup! Also, keep in mind this soup is allowed any time during the week and can be consumed as many times as you wish, so drink up!

Anyway, that's it!

So, this is my spiel for Day 2, folks. Once again, I'm fairly early in my 7 day plan, so if anyone else happens to be on Day 1, 2 or 3, please comment below and let me know! =)

Until tomorrow with a few more exciting stories of my journey!

Hasta la-buh bye!

Getting back in the swing of things..

*dusts cobwebs off blog & coughs*

Oh my! It has been ridiculously long since I've written...almost 2 years perhaps! I am, in the least, very ashamed to say I have just been busy with... life... *hangs head*

However!

Like the title of this post says, I will be attempting to get back in the swing of things, and write a bit more regularly now, even if the posts are small & to-the-point.

I think the problem was... I had nothing to blog about before!

Although, that may not be the case any more...

I have embarked on a mission as of today. A weight loss mission, actually!

In the spirit of honesty, I am not extremely comfortable posting exact numbers as yet, but lets just say, my goal is to drop a serious amount of poundage.

Also, I've tried this a few times before, but I don't think I have ever been so determined, or motivated either.

I have in mind, a very simple plan. Exercise combined with a proper diet.

No pills. No supplements. No protein shakes. Just raw exercise, with a completely natural diet.

In terms of exercise, I will be using the equipment I have available at home; aka - the treadmill, the stationary bike & the elliptical.

In terms of the diet, I did a lot of research over the internet & found myself The GM Diet. It was an extremely easy-to-follow, simple-to-prepare-for, and a very inexpensive plan. It is a simple 7 day diet program, mainly designed to cleanse and detoxify your system from all the waste that it stores. It is designed for an approximate 10-17 lbs loss per week.

Along with the food requirements, the diet also urges you to drink about 8-10 glasses of water every day. A few other drinks such as herb/leaf tea, club soda, black coffee, etc. are allowed. However, alcohol must be strictly abstained from.

There is another drink called the "G.M.'S Wonder Soup" which is a simple vegetable soup and according to the diet, it can be consumed "any time of the day in virtually unlimited quantities." I will be posting the recipe later during the week when I actually make it.

I figured I should start writing on the first day that I started the diet, so I could share my thoughts and feelings exactly about how & what I'm going through.

Day 1 of the diet calls for:
"All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on the first day are very good."

What I ate:
Food intake: Half a watermelon, 1 Chinese guava, a few red grapes
Water intake: 7 large glasses
Other beverages: 3 cups of Lipton Green Tea (2 with 4 drops of lemon juice each)

Food for the day, except mine was a little less prettier.. =/

The Workout:

• 30 minutes (approximately 1.75 kms) on the treadmill
• 30 jumping jacks
• 60 minutes of leaf-raking 

I understand that this is just the beginning, and my research states that feeling drained after only a bit of exercise is very normal for the first few days of the diet.

How I felt:

The morning started off great because I was so excited to start the new diet, and all through the afternoon it was fairly easy to follow as well. However, when the time came to go out and rake the leaves in the cold, I started wishing I had something more solid to eat. I had only had watermelon and green tea so far (and keep in mind, I am not a tea person), so all the food intake was pretty much only water based. But I pushed myself on, worked outside for about an hour, came back and rewarded myself with some more melon! 

Working out on the treadmill was definitely tiring because I didn't feel like I had enough energy to do the half hour I had planned. But I distracted myself with different things and before I knew it, my 30 minutes were done! I was very happy with myself. After I finished working out was the hardest part in terms of the diet. I was extremely hungry and really craving solid food. Personally, I do not have a sweet tooth, so I was tired of the sweet taste fruits had been providing me so far. Hence, I ate a guava which at least felt more solid than the watermelon. There are still a few more hours of the evening to go, and I plan to have one more cup of green tea (I've had 2 so far), a few grapes as a night snack, and hopefully 2-3 more glasses of water.

Overall, I'm feeling pretty good about this because I'm already seeing some movement on the scale! However, I don't want to get caught up in premature celebration. I understand that I must keep at it; I want to get through the whole week, keep exercising every day, and hopefully only then will it have made a real difference. The GM Diet actually doesn't call for any exercise to be coupled with the food, but I believe it is an added bonus for yourself, and it keeps you active.

That is all for my extra lengthy post tonight!

I will be back tomorrow evening to fill y'all in about Day 2. If there's absolutely ANYONE out there who happens to be starting the GM Diet today, please comment below and let me know. Let's do this together!

As cheesy as this sounds, if anyone happens to stumble across this blog within the next few days, any words of motivation, inspiration or advice will be greatly appreciated =) (I'd hope for them to be positive, o'course!)

Until tomorrow, oh dear strangers!

Hasta la-buh bye!

PS - I'll try to post pictures of my actual food tomorrow ;-)